A CORK hospital is leading in an international trial to try to establish the most appropriate treatment for babies who suffer from low blood pressure and low blood flow to the brain as a result of being born too early.…
Novus Medica
Medical news service from Penhire
Monthly Archives: December 2010
Number of flu victims soared over Christmas
THE numbers of people falling ill with flu doubled over Christmas, a new report revealed last night. The report revealed how GPs are seeing a big rise in patients, including young children and teenagers, with flu-like symptoms; while there has…
Hospital struggles to stop spread of virus
A MAJOR hospital has been forced to restrict visits to patients for more than 10 days now in an effort to contain the spread of the winter vomiting virus. About 70 patients and 20 staff at St Vincent’s University Hospital,…
Role of ethics committees
[Letter to Times >>>] Madam, – The restatement by the Adelaide Hospital Society of its interpretation of the charter of Tallaght Hospital (Letters, December 29th) is to be welcomed in the spirit of free speech and collegiality, as long as…
Midwives’ role curtailed
[Letter to Times >>>] Madam, – I am alarmed at the extreme views expressed in Marie O’Connor’s letter (December 28th) concerning the role of midwives attending women who choose to have their babies at home. Women are entitled to a…
Doctor to give HSE ongoing check-ups
A doctor will manage the Health Service Executive’s drive to improve patient safety and standards of care. Dr Philip Crowley becomes the new National Director of Risk, Quality and Clinical Care next month, joining the HSE’s senior management team. He is…
Now 40pc on medical card due to hard times
MORE than 16,000 more people a month were issued with a medical card this year as they fell on hard times after losing their jobs or suffering pay cuts, new figures reveal. There are now in excess of 1.5 million…
HSE to close two regional ambulance centres
The HSE is planning to shut down two regional ambulance control centres as it centralises the countrywide service. Documents obtained by the Irish Independent show that the centres will be closed by the end of February. The HSE plans to…
New law does not threaten midwives
[Letter to Independent >>>] I READ with interest Marie O’Connor’s letter (December 26) regarding midwifery practice. Unfortunately, however, her letter contains a number of factual errors. Firstly, the new nurses and midwives legislation will enshrine the position of midwifery as…
2010 was a record year for public vaccinations
BY THE end of this year, the HSE will have administered over four million vaccines to everyone from newborn infants to our oldest citizens. 2010 was one of the busiest years in the history of the State in relation to…
Cutting the health budget may be a good thing
HSE might be forced to plan for health rather than disease, writes JACKY JONES I MUST BE one of the few people in Ireland who think that cutting more than €700 million from the health budget for 2011, with more cuts…
Little to cheer in year of cutbacks
A review of the year in healthcare by Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent with the Irish Times >>>
Role of ethics committees
[Letter to Irish Times from Dr Fergus O'Ferrall] >>> Prof Desmond O’Neill’s letter (December 24th), misses the point, indeed misses many points. The fact is that it is the Charter of the Adelaide Meath Hospital, commonly called Tallaght Hospital, which…
Shortage of junior doctors looming
[Letter to Irish Times >>>] I read with dismay but no surprise that there is a shortage of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) looming in our health service. The reasons for this are very simple. Primarily, the lack of recognition of…
Times editorial: Eventful year in healthcare
An investigation by Dr Maurice Hayes concluded a shortage of consultant radiologists combined with management weaknesses at the hospital were among the main factors why some 58,000 X-rays were left unreported between 2006 and 2009. Of major interest for 2011…
Pregnant and under-65s at greatest H1N1 risk
GP CONSULTATIONS for influenza are rising across Europe, with rates at their highest in England. Confirmed flu cases are predominantly of swine flu, now officially designated influenza A (H1N1) 2009. As of December 21st, the latest date for which figures…
Former ‘Irish Times’ journalist David Nowlan dies
DR DAVID Nowlan, former theatre critic, medical correspondent and managing editor of The Irish Times , has died. Dr Nowlan studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin and qualified in 1960, later becoming medical registrar at Dr Steevens’ Hospital. He was involved…
Posted in Doctors
Hospital first: ipad used to view x-rays
[From Irish Times >>>] A hospital in Israel has begun using Apple iPads to enable medical staff to help treat patients, provide consultations and study X-rays and CT scans from afar. The Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Tel Aviv said…
Fertility fears as Chlamydia infections rise by 25%
THE NUMBER OF cases of the sexually transmitted disease, Chlamydia trachomatis, in the Republic has increased by 25 per cent, according to the latest annual report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). “The incidence of verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC)…
HSE to blame for doctor brain drain
[From Independent >>>] I read with dismay but no surprise of a trainee doctor (NCHD) shortage looming in our health service. The reasons for this are very simple. Primarily, the lack of recognition of the importance of non-EU doctors to…
Doctor shortage may close emergency departments
Hospitals face a shortage of up to 400 junior doctor posts next month, with the Health Service Executive (HSE) warning senior doctors that an additional 140 posts could be left unfilled in January. By last July, 260 of the 4,638…
Role of ethics committees
[Letter to the Irish Times >>>] Madam, – As a senior clinician in the Adelaide and Meath Hospital at Tallaght and teacher/researcher in medical ethics, I am writing to clarify that the views of Dr Fergus O’Ferrall and the Adelaide…
New perspective promises potential MS breakthrough
Discovering why a critical nerve sheathing called myelin deteriorates might be key to curing multiple sclerosis, new research from Galway suggests. A RESEARCH group based in Galway have made an important discovery about multiple sclerosis, something that may lead to…
Mental health
YET ANOTHER horror story of administrative abuse has emerged, and those responsible are the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health. This time, it involves children and their forced detention in adult mental health units because appropriate social work…
Junior doctor shortage problematic, says HSE
Publishing its national service plan for 2011 yesterday, the executive said it would face an “immense challenge” to deliver the same levels of service provided in 2010 with net reduced funding of some €683 million for 2011. HSE chief executive…
CUH ethics forum ‘did not halt’ abortion trip
THE HSE has denied that an ethics forum at Cork University Hospital made a decision to stop a terminally ill woman from travelling to Britain to have an abortion, saying it is only there to “guide” medical staff. A spokesperson…
Unions: Hospital rating no surprise
In the latest Health Service Executive Healthstat survey, the Mid-Western Regional Hospital along with Cork University Hospital were the two worst performing hospitals out of a total of 29 evaluated. The top performing hospitals given a ‘green’ rating were Cavan…
Get vaccinated for swine flu
THE Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of the Royal College of Practitioners of Ireland is urging pregnant women to get vaccinated against swine flu because of a rise in the number of cases of the H1N1 virus. (Examiner)
No overall policy on operation of ethics bodies in HSE hospitals
Research ethics committees are required under 2004 EU regulations, and are recognised by the Department of Health and Children. The committees set out the conditions under which clinical trials and other kinds of medical research can be carried out, and…
Question raised over need for entry exam to medical school
The authors say this raises a question about the need for the controversial HPat, which opponents say has prevented high-performing students securing a place in Irish medical schools. With the aim of investigating the ability of the HPat to predict…
